Comon errors in the use of prepositions of place made by the second year nonEnglish major students at HaNoi Pedagogical University Number 2 in the ecademic year of 2012

For the reasons above, this study is conducted, which focuses on errors in the use of prepositions of place among the second year non-English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical Universi

YEAR OF 2012/2013

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF

THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLISH)

SUPERVISOR: MAI THI VAN ANH, M.A

Hanoi, May 2013

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study would not have been possible without the guidance and the help

of several individuals who in one way or another contributed and extended their valuable assistance in the preparation and completion of this study

Foremost, I would like to take this chance to express my sincere gratitude to

Ms Mai Thi Van Anh, M.A., my supervisor, for the continuous support of my study, for her patience, motivation, encouragement, indispensable suggestions and advice, enthusiasm and knowledge Her guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this study

Besides my supervisor, I would like to thank all the lecturers at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2, especially the lecturers in the Foreign Language Faculty for their dedicated instructions during my years of university work

I am particularly grateful to my close friends for their enthusiasm and kindness in helping me collect valuable reference documents and data for my research

Last but not least, I thank my parents for their support and whole-hearted encouragement

iii

ABSTRACT

Prepositions of place are an important part of the English language and will enable students to create more complex sentences Prepositions of place are plentiful Most of the common prepositions of place are simple, i.e consist of one word Other prepositions, consisting of more than one word, are called complex However, due to this the students of English often get problems when using prepositions of place Whereas error analysis of prepositions of place referred to in some books have not been dealt with in full and sometimes cause confusion to learners

As a result, students of English often make errors when they use the prepositions of place Therefore, this study focuses on the uses of prepositions of place and entails conducting a survey for error analysis

The types of errors and causes have been found based on the results of the survey Solutions to the problems have been suggested

iv

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Title: Common Errors in the Use of Prepositions of Place

(Graduation paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the Degree of Bachelor of

Arts in English)

I certify that no part of this report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other person’s work without acknowledgment and that the report is originally written by me under strict guidance from my supervisor

Date submitted: May 2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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V Research tasks

VI Research methods

VII Significance of the proposed research

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PART TWO DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

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VI

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Vii

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H2 Common ©rr0rS and €AUS€S 5- 55555 555 1323 5S555558555551858855855855556 26 II2.1 Errors In the use of with a poInf In SpAC€ - 5 55c sec <<s+ 26 IL2.2 Errors In the use of77 with a SUTÍAC€ - Ác St eerse 26 IL2.3 Errors in the use OŸ ø/ WIth af€AS - Ăn He 27 IL.2.4 Errors in the use of in front of when the items on the line are facing CaCh Other PA NG raỪỦủỶẦ 27

II.2.5 Errors in the use of along when the space is treated as a point or an Em ốốố ố ố 27

II2.6 Errors In the use of 5eÏow in contexts where under is required 28

II.2.7 Errors in the use of across in contexts where through is required 28

II.2.8 Errors in the use of above in contexts where over is required 29

11.3 Suggested solutions and suggested CXercises cccccsccsescecceessssesceeees 29 IL.3.1 Suggested 000 1 29

T1.3.2 Suggested (2v 30

PART THREE CONCLUSION CONCLUSION REFERENCES APPENDICE S . 5 << họ HH nh HT hư nh men 36 À8): 29)024019)/.9).2011 36 SUGGESTED EXERCISES Ác SH HH TH HH HH Hệ 42

viii

PART ONE INTRODUCTION

I Rationale

Language is very important in daily human life It is a systematic mean of communication by the use of sounds or conventional symbols Human beings use the language to express their ideas and communicate to others The language is the written and spoken methods of combining words to create meaning used by a particular group of people However, it is only easy for people who have the same language to communicate There are likely no difficulties in using the language to express their ideas and concepts as well as moods, feelings and attitudes As for the native speakers, in particular, they do not have difficulties or obstacles in using the language since they soon pick up their own native language from their birth On the other hand, if the people take part in the conversations who speak the different languages, they definitely get difficulties in communicating to each other due to their different backgrounds: nationality, race, and language One of the problems causing the difficulties is the language used Therefore, they need a language which the speaker and his or her counterpart can understand This leads to the international languages used They must be the most popular and most spoken languages in the world One of the languages is the English language

English is known as the most important language in the world in general and

in Vietnam in particular It is necessary in each and every field At present, due to the awareness of the importance of English, there are more and more people need

to learn English Hence, English is being taught at every educational level in Vietnam

However, learning a language is not easy due to the differences of the system between the foreign languages and the native language This may bring about the problems for the foreign language learners Accordingly, it is inevitable that the Vietnamese students usually get problems in learning English It is proved that English grammar is complex and often causes embarrassment to students

1

Prepositions, in particular preposition of place are the language categories that are difficult for the students to learn because there are many prepositions of place and each preposition has the different uses Therefore, it is assumed that there are many

errors which maybe made In fact, the students are often confused in using

prepositions of place Many of them confess that prepositions of place are the biggest problems of English grammar and they often make errors in the use of prepositions of place For example:

The film premiere this year will take place on Leicester Square at London

The conference was very badly attended: below two hundred people came

As a matter of fact, problems in relation to place prepositions are long since studied by many authors This category of English is difficult for not only learners

of English but also English teachers to use They often make mistakes when using prepositions of place Hence, as a prospective teacher, I would like to help the students minimize their errors and make a contribution to the English teaching in

Vietnam For the reasons above, this study is conducted, which focuses on errors in

the use of prepositions of place among the second year non-English major students

at Hanoi Pedagogical University N, 2

II RESEARCH PRE SUPPOSITION

With regard to the errors quoted above, the problem is with contexts and meanings of prepositions of position The correct versions could be:

The film premiere this year will take place at Leicester Square in London

The conference was very badly attended: under two hundred people came

Some research questions are raised:

1) What kinds of errors do the second year non-English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N, 2 in the academic year of 2012/2013 often make?

2

2) What are the common errors in the use of the prepositions of place made

by the second year non-English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N,

2 in the academic year of 2012/2013?

3) Why do the second year non-English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N, 2 in the academic year of 2012/2013 make errors when they use the prepositions of place?

Based on the questions above, I am eager to learn about the problems and make an error analysis in prepositions of place so that the major errors in the use of prepositions of place may be found

Ill RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The study is aimed to describe the patterns of difficulty and the variability observed in the incorrect uses of English prepositions of place in a survey questionnaire completed by the second year non-English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N, 2 in the academic year of 2012/2013 studying English

as a compulsory subject at University In particular, the study is aimed at the following goals:

1) To find out the kinds of errors in the use of prepositions of place made

by the second year non-English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N,

2 in the academic year of 2012/2013 in using prepositions of place

2) To find out the main errors in the use of prepositions of place most often made by the second year non-English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical

University N, 2 in the academic year of 2012/2013 in using prepositions of place

3) To find out the causes of the errors in the use of prepositions of place made by the second year non-English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N, 2 in the academic year of 2012/2013 in using prepositions of place

IV RESEARCH SCOPE

The general research area of this study is grammar

The phenomenon is errors in the use of prepositions of place made by the second year non-English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N, 2 in the academic year of 2012/2013 Others relating to the prepositions of place are also briefly mentioned

The population involved in the study is one hundred second year non- English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N, 2 in the academic year

of 2012/2013

V RESEARCH TASKS

The study involves fulfilling the following tasks:

1) To study types of classification and uses of prepositions of place

2) To research into the different uses among some prepositions of place 3)To study the relationship between prepositions of position and prepositions of direction

4) To research into the expressions of prepositions of position

5) To conduct a survey to find out error types and causes On the basis of the findings, possible solutions to the problems are sought to minimize the students’ errors

VI RESEARCH METHODS

To achieve the objectives of the study, it is essential to have a combination

of methods In this study, the methods including collection, synthesis, analysis and enumeration have been applied

VII SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH

Errors in any language teaching and learning, particularly in English as a foreign language, are sometimes predictable and sometimes unpredictable It is, therefore, essential for teachers to have better treatment to anticipate errors After the research, it is hoped that the result will be helpful to provide:

4

1) Input for learners of English in order to minimize their errors in the use of prepositions of place

2) Input for teachers of English with information on error types and solutions

to the problems so that they can have good methods of teaching the prepositions of place

This study is also beneficial to anyone who is interested in the prepositions

of place in English

VII DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH WORK

The research work has three main parts, namely: Introduction, Development, and Conclusion The part “Development” consists two chapters Chapter one is entitled “Theoretical Background” It consists two sections Section one reviews literature review in brief The second one deals with things related to the prepositions of place such as definition, classification and the different uses among some prepositions of place Moreover, the relationship between the prepositions of position and direction and the expressions of prepositions of position are also mentioned

Chapter two is named “Common errors in the use of the prepositions of place” It has three sections Section one is devoted to the survey The second one deals with error types and causes The last one is solutions to the problems and suggested exercises on the prepositions of place

PART TWO DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1 LITERATURE REVIEW IN BRIEF

Preposition is a difficult structure for learners of English to use They are often confused when using it Therefore, prepositions of place make learners easy

to make errors

Prepositions of place have been described by many grammarians like George Yule (1998), Mark Foley and Diane Hall (2003), Randolph Quirk (1973), Michael Vince (1993), L.G.Alexander (1990) and so on Each of them has their own way to describe the prepositions of place Generally, they pay attention to the definition, classification and uses of prepositions of place

Mark Foley and Diane Hall (2003) in Advanced Learners Grammar deal with the types of prepositions of place in terms of special relationship In this way the prepositions of place fall into three groups The first group based on vertical relationships includes above, after, below, beneath, down, on, on top of, over, under and underneath The next group, according to horizontal relationships,

comprises against, along, alongside, around, at, beside, between, by, in, near, next

to, on, on the left of, on the right of The last group is composed of across, after, before, behind, facing, in front of, opposite, over which is relied on facing

relationships They give learners the uses of prepositions of place In addition, they

also indicate the differences between the synonymous prepositions of place Besides, they introduce some common errors in the use of prepositions of place

that are errors when using below, under, on, at, in and at

In the book Longman English Grammar Practice for Intermediate Students, L.G.Alexander (1990) only gives the uses of at and in

George Yule (1998) in Explaining English Grammar mentions types of prepositions of place according to locations in space such as points, surfaces and area He also introduces the movement of entities in relation to the locations as a

point, a surface, or an area

In the book First Certificate Language Practice, Michael Vince (1993) introduces briefly the differences between in and at

In the website englishtheeasyway.com, the definition of prepositions of place

is presented In addition, common place prepositions and examples are also mentioned

Alaine Walker and Steve Elsworth (2000) in the book Grammar Practice for

Upper Intermediate Students only gives the uses of at, in, on, above, below, over, under, beneath, underneath, on top of, against, opposite, by, beside, next to, inside,

expressions of the prepositions of place like relative position, relative destination and passage

Overall, much research has been done on the prepositions of place However, only Mark Folley and Diane Hall (2003) point out errors in the use of

prepositions of place The fact is that there are a lot of errors that learners of

English often make when they use the prepositions of place Therefore, it is essential to have a comprehensive study of common errors in the use of prepositions of place.

1.2 PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE

1.2.1 Definition

Prepositions of place, according to the website englishtheeasyway.com, are used to clarify a specific place Place prepositions are used with all nouns The prepositions of place usually come before the noun or the pronoun The preposition never comes before a verb For example:

There is a cup on the table

He stood in front of me and opened the door

1.2.2 Types of prepositions of place

The refuge is in the hills above the town

The clouds hung low over the hills

Whereas we use below or under to talk about something that is lower than something else For example:

Put your shoes under the bed

Water was dripping onto the floor below

However, over and under are used to show position when there is contact between things For instance:

I’m wearing a coat over my jacket and a sweater under it

We use over or under in the following cases:

e When one thing covers another:

The clouds hung low over the hills

He disappeared under the water

8

e When horizontal movement is suggested:

Are we going to fly over the Alps?

e With prices, ages, speeds, distances and quantities, where we mean more than or fewer or less than:

The conference was very badly attended: under two hundred people came

We use above or below to talk about level or rank:

Is the position of Managing Editor above or below that of Editorial Director?

It is also possible to use after in this sense:

His opinion is second only after the Managing Director’s

In the use of up and down we note:

John lives a few houses further up the hill from us

John lives a few houses further down the hill from us

We generally use beneath in idiomatic phrases:

Your behavior towards my new husband was really beneath contempt! 1.2.2.1.2 Horizontal relationships

As for horizontal relationships, in the book Advanced learners’ Grammar by Mark Folley and Diane Hall, prepositions of place comprise against, along,

alongside, around, at, beside, between, by, in, near, next to, on, on the left/right of

We use at with a point in space, e.g at the bus stop, at 8 Baker Street; we

use on with a surface or a line, e.g on the table, on the river, on Oxford Street; and

we use in with something that surrounds, e.g in the wood We use different

prepositions depending on how we see a place For example:

The group will meet at 7.30 at the sports centre (= either inside or outside)

The group will meet at 7.30 in the sports centre (= inside)

Also: at the corner of the street (= a point) but in the corner of the room (= inside) We usually use in with countries, cities or towns We use on with streets,

roads, avenues, etc and we use at with the names of squares if we think of the

‘address’, and in if we think of the square as ‘surrounding’ us For instance:

The film premiere this year will take place at Leicester Square in London The trees in Leicester Square don’t look very healthy

We use at when we refer to gatherings of people: at a party, at a conference

We use beside and alongside to express proximity along a line For example: Warehouses were built beside/ alongside the motorway

1.2.2.1.3 ‘Facing’ relationships

According to Mark Foley and Diane Hall (2003) in the book Advanced learners’ Grammar, in the group of facing relationships the prepositions of place include across, after, before, behind, facing, in front of, opposite, over

We use in front of or behind to describe the spatial relationship of two things, one after the other on a line and facing the same way

In front of and behind can also be used for metaphorical, not literal, position For instance:

Christopher is really behind his brother in terms of academic development

Before and after can refer to position in some contexts, for example:

Karen’s nephew appears before/ in front of the magistrates this afternoon

You'll be called first as my name is after yours on the list

Opposite, facing, across and over have the meaning of ‘on the other side of

but with across and over we have to state on the other side of what, e.g a road, a

river For instance:

I’ll meet you in the café opposite/ facing the theatre (= on the other side of the road)

I'll meet you in the café across/ over the road from the theatre

The difference between opposite/ facing and in front of is that the items on the ‘line’ are not facing in the same direction, but are facing each other

10

1.2.2.2 According to dimension

When we use a preposition to indicate place, we do so in relation to the dimensional properties, whether subjectively or objectively conceived, of the location concerned In this way, prepositions of position are classified into three

types: point, which focuses on at; line or surface deals with on and area or volume,

which concentrates on in

1.2.2.2.1 Point

Locations can be points in space and treated as having no relevant

dimension We are often at a point in space

Prepositions in this group indicate that the noun that follows them is treated

as a point in relation to which another object is positioned

We can use at with nouns to mean ‘a (meeting) point’ For example:

[ll meet you at the airport

Some typical nouns used in this case are the cinema, the office, the bank, the

library, (the) school

We say that someone is at an event, e.g at a concert, a dance, a dinner, a

funeral, a meeting, a party, a wedding For instance:

Tom is ata party

We say at with buildings when we say where the event (film, concert, ) takes place For example:

Where were you yesterday? At the cinema

The meeting took place at the headquarters

We also use at with public places or buildings, e.g at the airport, the bus

stop, the Grand Hotel, the butcher’s

We use at for specific addresses For instance:

She lives at 24 Cedar Avenue

We use at with nouns with zero article, e.g at home, church, college, school,

university

We say at for a place which is a part of our journey For instance:

We stopped at a very nice village Does the train stop at Nashville?

11

1.2.2.2.2 Line or surface

Prepositions in this group indicate that the position of an object is defined with respect to a surface on which it rests

We use on with small islands For example:

She spent her holiday on a small island

We say that a place is on the coast/ on a river/ on a road For instance:

London is on the river Thames

Portsmouth is on the south coast of England

We use on for a surface, e.g on the wall, on the ceiling, on the floor, on a

page, ona cover For example:

Have you seen the notice on the notice board?

We use on for names of streets, roads, avenues, and boulevards For

instance:

Her apartment is on San Pablo Street

].2.2.2.3 Area or volume

Prepositions in this group indicate that an object lies within the boundaries

of an area or within the confines of a volume

We use in for spaces, e.g a room, a hotel, a parking lot, a farm, a rice field For instance:

They always meet in a secret room

We use in for names of specific land areas, e.g in Southern Africa, in the Philippines, in Southeast Asia For example:

She lives in a quiet town in Southern Africa

We use in for bodies of water For instance:

That kind of fish thrives in freshwater in the lake

We use in for lines, e.g in a row, in a line, in a queue For example:

The registrants are in a row

We use in to show that something is enclosed or surrounded, e.g in the

garden, in the house, in the water, in a taxi, in her bag For example:

There is nobody in the room

Here are some more examples:

The dog is in the garden

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She is in a taxi

Put it in the box

We also use in to show position within land-areas (towns, countries, states,

continents) For instance:

L used to live in Nottingham

1.2.2.2.4 Differences between in, on and at

1.2.2.2.4.1 In and At

Random Quirk (1973) shows in detail the opposition between at and in

In is used for continents, countries, provinces, and sizeable territories of any kind For example:

She lives in London

However for towns, villages, and so on, either at or in is appropriate According to this point of view, we have:

at Straford-upon-Avon, or

in Straford-upon-Avon

Avery large city, such as New York, London, or Tokyo, is generally treated

as an area For instance:

He works in London, but he lives in the country

Whereas one could treat it as a point on the map if global distances were in mind

Our plane refueled at London on its way from New York to Moscow With buildings, also, both at and in can be used in British English The difference here is that at refers to a building in its institutional or functional aspect, while in refers to it as a three-dimensional structure

I.2.2.2.4.2 On and In

In the book A University Grammar of English, Randolph Quirk (1973) says that the contrast between on (= surface) and in (= area) has various implications according to context, as these examples show:

On the window: The frost made pattern on the window

(window = glass surface)

In the window/ mirror: A face appeared in the window/ mirror

(window, mirror = framed area)

On the island: Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an

uninhabited island

In the island: He was born in Long Island

(the island has an institutional identity)

We note that in many cases (especially in colloquial English), on and in may

be used for both position and destination For instance:

He dived in the water

He felt on the floor

1.2.3 Prepositions and location

In the book Explaining English Grammar, George Yule (1998) believes that there are several important aspects of the information which should be kept in mind We can be seen the information in the following box:

Position of entity (E) Reference location perceived as:

Source of movement (away) from off out of

Some types of spatial reference (i.e locations) may be inherently more

‘area-like’ (i.e having volume, or three dimensions) than ‘surface-like’ or ‘point-

14

like’ and hence may tend to be used with one set of related prepositions more than another However, most spatial reference can be conceptualized by a speaker differently on different occasions, depending on the nature of the information being conveyed

For example, a town would seem to represent the kind of the location that

would most typically be treated as three-dimensional space and lead us to talk of

being in it, as shown in the following example:

The University is in Baton Rouge

However, from a different perspective, the town may be treated as if it was a

kind of surface with sunshine on it, as in example:

The Sun is shining on Baton Rouge this morning

If that city is treated as one point in a journey, essentially having no relevant dimension, then we can stop at it For instance:

Flight 410 to Nashville has one stop at Baton Rouge

Although the concept of ‘surface’ may frequently be taken to mean ‘on top

of a horizontal surface, it does not mean that the perspective has to be that of the human observer It can be a spider’s orientation to the surface that is being described, as shown in the following example:

The cat on the floor is watching the spider on the ceiling

The relevant space can be also viewed as the vertical surface on which certain entities are found For instance:

The cat on the floor, watching the spider on the ceiling which was following the fly on the wall

Spatial locations viewed in terms of a vertical dimension are also the key to the use of up and down as prepositions indicating a directional path as a surface For example:

They climbed up the steep side of the hill and walked down the other side

A final point to note is that conceptual distinctions in types of spatial location extend to entities which may not initially seem to be primarily spatial

15

This is particularly true with regard to the extensions of ‘area’, or three dimensional concepts Entities as physically different as an ocean, a mouth, a box,

a drawer, a crowd, or address, among many others, can all be treated in English as having the same conceptual status in terms of spatial dimensions In many respects, such entities are treated as having ‘interior’ space, or ‘container-like’ properties, with respect to some other entity that is in or out of them It tends to follow that many extensions of these basic relationships between physical or concrete entities and locations will be made into non-physical and abstract relationships This type

of extension can be fairly easily understood by considering some of the way in which references to location in time in English follow patterns used for location in space, but it goes much further and appears to be at the heart of many metaphorical, or non-literal, references involving simple prepositions in English 1.2.4 Relationship between notions of position and direction

1.2.4.1 Positive position and direction

A cause-and-effect relationship obtains between the notion of simple position (or static location) and direction (movement with respect to a destination)

of ‘motional’ meaning, such as go, move, fly, and so on

1.2.4.2 Negative position and direction

There is a parallel cause and effect relation with the negative prepositions

away from, off, off of (informal American English), out of:

16

Direction Position

Tom went away from the door Tom was away from the door

(= Tom was not at the door.)

We use off with the meaning as not on and out of as not in

1.2.5 Expressions of prepositions of place

1.2.5.1 Relative position

Apart from simple position, prepositions may express the relative position of two objects or groups of objects For example:

He was standing by his brother (= ‘at the side of?)

I left the keys with my wallet (= ‘in the same place as’)

Above, over, on top of, under, underneath, beneath, below express relative

position vertically whereas before, in front of, behind, after represent it horizontally

We have the diagram:

above

behind D<— X —C in front of

1

B below The diagram above depicts the relations expressed by ‘A is above X’, ‘D is

behind X’, and so on

The antonyms above and below, over and under, in front of and behind are not positive and negative but converse opposites For instance:

The picture is above the mantelpiece = The mantelpiece is below the picture

The bus is in front of the car = The car is behind the bus

Over and under as place prepositions are roughly synonymous with above and below respectively The main differences are that over and under tend to

17

indicate a direct vertical relationship and/ or spatial proximity, while above and below may indicate simply ‘on a higher/lower level than’ For example:

The castle stands on a hill above (rather than over) the valley

The doctor and the policeman were leaning over (rather than above) the body when we arrived

Underneath and beneath are less common substitutes for under; beneath is

formal in style Underneath, like on top of, generally indicates a contiguous relation

Some other prepositions of relative position are beside, near (to), between, amid(st) (formal), among, amongst (especially in British English)

1.2.5.2 Relative destination

The prepositions in the part ‘Relative position’ (but not, generally, above and below) can express ‘Relative destination’ For example:

The bush was the only conceivable hiding-place, so I dashed behind it

When it started to rain, we all went underneath the trees

This use is distinct from that denoting that passage behind, under, and so on 1.2.5.3 Passage

With verbs of motion, prepositions may express the idea of passage, i.e movement towards and then away from a place, as well as destination With the prepositions listed in the part ‘Relative position’, this occurs in sentences like:

He jumped over a ditch

Someone ran behind the goal-posts

In sentences like the last, or like The ball rolled underneath the table, there

is an ambiguity: we can supply either the meaning of ‘passage’ (= the ball passed under the table on the way to some other destination) or the meaning of

‘destination’ (= the ball rolled under the table and stayed there)

We note that a triple ambiguity may in fact arise with the above sentences,

or more clearly with the following sentence:

A mouse scuttled behind the curtain

This sentence may be interpreted not only in the sentences of ‘passage’ and

‘destination’, but also in a positional sense, implying that the mouse stayed (scuttling back and forth) behind the curtain all the time

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